**CAR OF THE WEEK! Friday 28/09/12**

Announcing the 34th installment of the Car of the Week series.

A chance for everyone on GTPlanet to get behind the wheel of the same car and give it a thorough going over. The aim is to get people driving what they wouldn't usually drive, or cars that may have been overlooked. They may be great, they may be terrible, but as part of GT5 they deserve discussion right here.

People can show off their amazing photos, trade tuning tips, race one another and review that weeks nominated car. Lap times can be posted, top speeds and acceleration times compared and tips on handling discussed.

We are starting to develop a brilliant bunch of regular contributors but I very much encourage everyone to get involved and have their say. Every week (almost!) a poster will be picked for their contribution in that weeks thread to pick the star car for the following week. Ask anyone that has so far been chosen to pick and I am sure they will tell you what an honor it is! So get involved and it could be you!

Car of the Week - What do YOU think of the car?

So, without further ado, this weeks star car of the week...

Last week MustangManiac thrashed the car to within an inch of its life, took some snazzy photos, and gave us some cold hard data as evidence of his shenanigans. I believe there may have also been some alleged hooning, but the surveillance footage is a bit grainy. Nonetheless, we though he'd give us something worth playing with.

His choice...


No! Not that Cosmo! This Cosmo:
1967 Mazda Cosmo Sport (L10A)

and this 1968 Mazda Cosmo Sport (L10B)


That's right, 2 Cosmos for the price of one... like happy hour.

Excellent choice. I was hoping this would come up as COTW. We should commemorate the ending of production of Mazda's rotary engined by remembering the first one!

Plus it's a great looking car.

WHAT!? You mean I don't get the redhead

MustangManiac

WHAT!? You mean I don't get the redhead

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Haha. It's weird, - I haven't seen her in any of the Dealerships...

Dean J

Haha. It's weird, - I haven't seen her in any of the Dealerships...

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If she was in the dealership..how much would she be?!...

MUSC4EVER

If she was in the dealership..how much would she be?!...

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Oh, that's hard to tell. Plus, it's probably a CIA-secret.

iainn

Excellent choice. I was hoping this would come up as COTW. We should commemorate the ending of production of Mazda's rotary engined by remembering the first one!

Plus it's a great looking car.

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True, I had forgotten that they had ceased production of that motor earlier this year...a fitting tribute then 👍

MUSC4EVER

If she was in the dealership..how much would she be?!...

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Depends on the milage... Never going to find that one 0/0/0!

iainn

Excellent choice. I was hoping this would come up as COTW. We should commemorate the ending of production of Mazda's rotary engined by remembering the first one!

Plus it's a great looking car.

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Rotary engine going?

MustangManiac

True, I had forgotten that they had ceased production of that motor earlier this year...a fitting tribute then 👍

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The rotary isn't dead, just this generation. The next gen is currently in development. Mazda did the same thing between the FD and RX-8 models, so it's kinda expected.

Marathon de la Route​

1967 Mazda 110S - Marathon de la Route

What exactly is the Marathon de la Route, the Mazda 110S and what does this have to do with our COTW? Good questions, the last two are easy. The Mazda 110S, so named due to the series 1-10A motor being rated at 110hp, was the badging given to those Mazda Cosmo Sports that were intended for export.


Scale model kit of the 1968 Marathon de la Route Mazda 110S

As for the Marathon de la Route, it was an endurance race run from the mid 60's to 1971. It was run at varying lengths, but was usually 84 hours...at the Nurburgring! No, that is not a typo, 84 hours at the green h*ll. To indroduce the Cosmo Sport (110S) to the world and prove the reliability of the rotary engine, Mazda entered two (mostly stock) 110S's in the 1967 event. The two teams, one Japanese and one Belgian, ran 4th and 5th through most of the race. The Japanese team dropped out after 82 hours with axle damage, the Belgian team finished the race in 4th overall. For the true masochists, there was the final running of the event in 1971, 96 hours at the Nurb!


1968 Mazda 110S - Marathon de la Route

There were originally only six of the series 2 110S's exported to the USA. Currently there are only two examples of those left in existance. Jay Leno has one, of course. He took the original motor out and replaced it with 12A RX-7 motor...what a gearhead. The other was purchased by MazdaUSA from collector Glen Roberts. So keep that in mind as you are thrashing her about this week, don't bend or break her, she is quite the rare bird indeed!



While not usually the type of car I take to Nurburgring, since this is where she was introduced to the world, perhaps it a few laps round the ring would be a fitting tribute to our lovely lady 👍

* Photos courtesy of MazdaUSA

Take it to the 'Ring indeed. Worth a go but might have to do something with the gearing.

I read about this, I was going to suggest an 80 hr recreation event on the Nordschleife.

Nice pick Mustang! I really had no idea of the car's history or rarity, so thank you for the history lesson. I have both examples in my garage, so I'll wash the dust off and give them a go!

Have a good one 👍

Baron Blitz Red

Nice pick Mustang! I really had no idea of the car's history or rarity, so thank you for the history lesson. I have both examples in my garage, so I'll wash the dust off and give them a go!

Have a good one 👍

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Both are also currently available in the OCD.

If I recall correctly, both were prize cars as well, so no exuses not to have them. Both of mine are 0/0/0's...

Have a good one

Mazda Cosmo (110S) L10A/L10B '67/'68​

The 67 that I had was rated at 103hp/334pp and after an oil change showed 108hp/341pp. The 68 was rated 122hp/352pp and 128hp/359pp pre and post oil change respectively. With my usual mild tune the 67 came to 142hp/373pp and the 68 169hp/393pp.

Doin' it wrong...


Doin' it right...


The numbers from the test track:

............67 stk / 67 tun / 68 stk. / 68 tun
1/4 mi...18.056 / 16.129 / 17.421 / 15.636
1.0 mi...44.825 / 40.106 / 43.068 / 38.564
0 - 60...10.450 / 07.856 / 09.678 / 07.231
to 100...29.945 / 20.325 / 26.157 / 17.869
max G....00.500 / 00.580 / 00.520 / 00.610
max spd.128.60 / 128.20 / 143.90 / 139.70

Juuust a bit inside the apex here.


Much better line this time.


I found the performance of these cars surprising, not sure why. This was the era of 400hp+ muscle cars here in the states, no reason a proper sports car can't have similiar performance and better handling. Maybe that is what surprised me, the handling was similiar, these cars were plenty tail happy. Fortunately for me I belive in the old racers adage "loose is fast" so I felt right at home.
The tranny and CS tires on the stock cars were of course the weak link on the track, but that is to be expected. The tunes seemed to just magnify any flaws in handling no matter how much I played with the suspension. It even introduced a bit of a push in the 68 under certain circumstances, like heading downhill into a turn. I found myself really tip-toeing around the Nurb!
Overall the cars are a lot of fun to drive, stock they are quick and sure, tuned they require a bit more finesse at the track.

I get by with a little help from my friends...

...a trio of Comos drafting down the front stretch at Suzuka.

Best of ten laps at Deep Forrest Raceway:
67 L10A stock 1:44.551 / tuned 1:39.365
68 L10B stock 1:42.755 / tuned 1:35.923

Inside for P3, I would go outside of the Civic through the right hand sweeper for an eventual P2 finish.


Using the chrome horn at Suzuka


The Suzuka version of the Infamous Daytona "pass in the grass"


Since the cars were so similiar I decided to take just one, the faster 68, out for some competition and then off to Nurburgring. I chose the Japanese Classics seasonal, taking on Suzuka East, a 5 lap event for 450pp cars. I finished in P2 with both the stock and tuned car, my best laps being 1:08.140 and 1:03.184. The problem with racing in a car this small is that the AI will boot you off the track at will, which they did several times while trying to pass in the tuned ride. I am sure I could have taken P1 in the tuned car if it were not for all that blocking and punting going on, I cut my deficit in half on the last last running down the Dome.








I left the time set to default so my adventure began at daybreak, laps 2 & 3 were bright and sunny and by the end of lap 3, beginning of lap 4 it was getting dark again.







The stock car was sure footed and a fun ride, for about three laps then the CS tires started letting go. The tuned car was a blast to drive, but required a good deal of finesse. Get heavy handed with either the wheel or pedals and you would quickly be sorry. The SH tires didn't last much longer than the CS did given the extra speed. Given the amount of attention she required, especially at night, I can't imagine doing a two hour stint, it would certainly wear me out. Those drivers that took this car through the Marathon de la Route must have been real iron men.







My best laps at the Nurb:
stock: 9:55.358
tuned: 9:10.405

Mazda Cosmo Sport, 1967 (L10A) and 1968 (L10B)

Another small Japanese sports car from the 1960s. This one was ground-breaking of course as Mazda used the Wankel rotary engine for the first time in a sports car. It is certainly a great looking car with clean lines, but I'm not sure it is quite as futuristic as the GT5 blurb makes out. The rotary engine was small and light compared the usual reciprocating four/six cylinder engine, allowing for favourable placement and contributing to the low weight of the Cosmo.





I have this habit of buying old cars whenever they show up in the UCD, or OCD. This meant that when I went to garage I found nine of these - four Series I (Chamonix white) and five of the series II (Swan white) - and I'd never driven one. After engine and chassis rebuilds, the numbers are:

Series I, L10A: 113BHP, 940 KG, 346pp
Series II, L10B: 129BHP, 960 KG, 360pp


Firstly, I went Trial Mountain in the Series I. Acceleration is good as I wind up the little motor and the distinctive rotary 'whistle' is there. For some reason I was expecting a narrow usuable rev band, but it pulls well enough from 4000 rpm to around 7000 and I found it doesn't pay to wring it right up to the limit. The car was marketed as a GT, and this comes across in the gearing; with 4th being quite long the engine struggles to get on top of it meaning top gear acceleration is compromised on the track.





The Cosmo shows its hand at the first switchback as the rear-end lets loose with gay abandon. I'm using the DS3, so manage catch it and pull it back but I think it would have been different with a wheel. The first two laps are spent taming the wild backend, though I found it stable under no-ABS braking. Once I get it smooth and limit my inputs in the corners the experience becomes much more pleasant: knowing your track is the key here.





The Series II is much the same as it's older brother, both in looks and handling. The only difference I could see was the grill opening below the front bumper. It's a bit quicker on acceleration perhaps but still feisty, maybe even more so. I did begin to wonder if PD have been a bit over zealous in modelling the swing axle characteristics and made the Cosmo a bit too loose.





Trial Mountain on Comfort Softs:

Series I, L10A: 1:58.033
Series II, L10B: 1:57.435


Next I took another Series II, and tuned it up to 175BHP, 960Kg, 397pp using stage 1 engine, ECU, and air and exhaust components. I went for custom transmission, race suspension and custom diff' in the hope of controlling the back end a bit, and Sports Hards as it is a track car. My 3 year old son chose the green - wouldn't have been my first choice. Oh and the aftermarket wheels look too big, but I got some anyway.





My guess set-up was still wild, but the auto-adjusted transmission was a huge improvement, and as a 400pp car it felt plenty quick enough. After checking, I found I'd left the LSD settings default so loosened it right up which was a massive improvement. Then I softened the rear settings a bit and it seemed happier: L10B tuned at Trial Mountain on SH: 1:50.889.

With this I went back to a couple of the 450pp Japanese Classics seasonals. I was up against the Dome at Trial Mountain, so kept with Sports Hard tyres. As expected, I was in second by lap 3 but couldn't catch the rabbit - may have done if I didn't lose it on the peak of turn two (the right hander). Then I hit Toscana - no Dome so I went back to CS tyres and this was a fairly easy win on the second attempt.








As I mentioned earlier, you need to be smooth with the Cosmo: sudden corrections, or late turn-in (for example being off-line as you overtake the AI) can upset the back end, so can make for interesting racing. Or frustrating racing if you don't know the track or are chasing the rabbit.

For this reason I don't think the Cosmo would be everyone's cup of tea, but for those who like a challenge it can be fun. For non-stock track work a custom 'box is a must, and a little time fettling a setup to tame the oversteer would be beneficial. I like it, and the 400pp tuner is decent, but I didn't find it as nice to drive as contemporaries and previous Cars of the Week: Isuzu 117 and Skyline GT-B.

This time, though, the car in front is a Mazda.

Why go back to the ring? A few reasons actually. I have read that the most recent update, 2.08, made some changes to the tire wear model PD is using in GT5. Unforunately I have not run a bunch of laps in this car before so I can't do a direct before/after comparison, but I did want to see what I could expect with this type of car at this track. I have also started doing some of the endurance races in GT5 and wanted more experience with both night time driving and with this track.



I chose the mild tuned '68 Cosmo for this adventure (rated 169hp/393pp), RH tires, no aids except ABS-1 and left the time to default so I could experience multiple day/night transitions. I began with a few hot laps to warm up and see what I could get with the RH tires, my best lap was 8:46.604. Almost 25 seconds faster than the same car on SH tires and nearly 1:10 better than stock with CS tires. Now it was time for the real adventure to begin...



I ended up running 14 laps in just over 2:06 for an average lap time of 9:04.471 and ran through 3 day/night transitions in the process. I had 3 laps posted at over 9:20 where I made some unintentional off road excursions, other than that I generally ran high 8:40's to mid 8:50's. I was more than pleased that my fastest of these laps came on the 14th and last lap, meaning that I had not really lost any speed over the course of the stint. The fastest of this run was 8:48.061.
The tires and fuel at the end of this run were approx. slightly under 70/50% front/rear and under half a tank of gas. I am sure I could have made 20 laps and if I eased off a bit from the start I may have been able to cover a full fuel run on a set of tires. Can't say for sure, I got too wore out and ran out of time before I could see which ran out first, fuel or tires.

* Warning, cheesy wild west movie reference ahead *

Off into the sunset...

Lovely photos there Woodski. 👍

A bit late (again), but here's my contribution.

A few photos of this great looking car which found to be a good one to drive too. Turns in very smartly and despite the relatively low power it's fairly quick.

Here we are at Twin Ring Motegi East.




A new paint job and what turned out to be the wrong decision with new wheels.


Back to the original wheels and off into the sunset....


Cheers